YouTube Marks Let's Play Day With All-Time Site Top 10 List

YouTube's been around for a decade now, transforming from a way to share the latest SNL Digital Short to a force that's changed gaming forever. Today, the streaming site is celebrating Let's Play day, in a nod to the dedicated fans and streamers who have created so much of YouTube's content. To mark the day, the company has released a list of the top 10 biggest games of all-time on YouTube, based on viewing time. Some might surprise you, while others definitely won't.

Here's the official list, from number one on down:

1 - Minecraft

2 - Grand Theft Auto (series)

3 - League of Legends

4 - Call of Duty (series)

5 - FIFA (series)

6 - Garry’s Mod

7 - The Sims (series)

8 - Five Nights at Freddy’s (series)

9 - Puzzle & Dragons

10 - Dota 2

Looking broadly at the list, it's mostly clear why these games have risen above the others. Games like Minecraft, The Sims, and Garry's Mod offer streamers an opportunity to tell their own stories while playing, as well as provide tips for players who are just starting out. League of Legends, Call of Duty, FIFA, and Dota 2 have a focus on multiplayer, and people tend to enjoy watching pro-level gamers pull off ridiculous wins. If you've watched a video of someone hamming it up while getting scared by Five Nights at Freddy's, you're clearly not alone.

YouTube says that gaming videos have been viewed for billions of hours, which seems crazy until you think about it. PewDiePie alone has more than 36 million subscribers, and one of his videos can easily get several million views in a day – while putting millions of dollars in his pocket every year. It's getting increasingly more difficult for parents to say that playing video games won't amount to anything.

Our TakeI'm a big Puzzle & Dragons player, and it never occurred to me that there would be an audience for Let's Play videos based on the game, let alone that they would be so popular. I'll have to watch a few today and see what I've been missing out on. After all, it's a holiday now.

And the market is extremely oversaturated now with people trying to get into the business of playing games for cash. Unfortunately, they REALLY have to stand out and need a following before they can even compete (prior to being on YouTube, like Egorapter built his fame on Newgrounds and moved into other areas as a rising internet celeb).
Good on those who can do it. If you have the equipment and personality, you can make some good money. I'd be happy with even $40,000 a year for doing that (let alone millions).
Then again, I'm happy with my job so in the end it doesn't matter and I don't have to entertain yippy kiddos and immature folks too!

This is one aspect of modern gaming I will just never understand. How can so many people be entertained by watching someone else play games? Seriously, I try to put myself in the shoes of someone else and understand it, but I just can't.
Well, at least someones having fun with it I guess.

The Youtubers I watch that LP are usually funny like Roosterteeth, KSI, and AngryJoe. Others like TheGamersJoint are mainly Youtubers connected to a particular series which in his case is Kingdom Hearts

No offense to PewDiePie and all of his success. I'm happy for him. He seems like a nice enough guy. But, man, he annoys the crap out of me, lol. It's just a lot of screaming and gibberish when it hits my ears.